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Construction
Sitemap Details about Rapture Construction Issues --- --- --- ' See Also Primary_Construction ' ' See Also Columbia Construction ' : Environment : Cement : Ryanium : Prefabricated sections : Monolithic structure : Tunnel Boring : Utility Distribution : Transportation : Wales_Brothers : Interior Detailing : Repairs --- --- --- --- --- Rapture : "Established" on November 5, 1946 ''' : "Established", that is what ? Laying the keystone of the first real building, or when the first viable section was ready to start accepting immigrants ? (It is probably NOT the construction start because the Novel has preparation work starting immediately after the A-Bomb use in Aug 1945, and possibly the survey being finalized upon the locations found previously.) All kinds of preparations would have had to be made before occupation to make it livable, much more than just for housing work crews finishing interiors. The Novel indicates that Ryan gave the Green Light within days after the A-bombs dropped on Japan (Aug '45) (( '' I prefer the story to allow as much time as possible for things to be accomplished, and not like Infinite BS or its DLC where things get developed far to quickly. '' )) The site's geothermal formation would have been critical, so the survey results would have been likely from long before (when Ryan already had started advancing his dream), and the concept being proven technologically to provide the city's power (Perhaps on Iceland which has many Geo-Thermal sites). Interesting that it would have to have gone on during WW2 or even before that. (We Can have more backstory on this in the MMORPG.) --- --- --- '''Rapture NOT Quite Not New York City (where things are wedged together) : In cities, the Base of a Skyscraper is often irregular, matching the existing city street frontage (ex- Chrysler building, NYC), and then have multiple floors that shape-transition into the tower which is rectolinear/squared. Rapture had lots of space, so this really shouldn't have been require as much (would even retroactively added buildings not simply be placed a little further out from a 'prime' location because of the short distances and low density in Rapture). Columbia was a glombed together MESS - giving credence to my (REDO-appropriate) theory that it was transdimentionally 'Merged' to get that way ... --- --- --- HumanConstructionDiver.jpg Stairdesign.jpg AEdoors2.jpg AEdoors.jpg Rebarr.jpg Rebar4.jpg Modernskyscraper.jpg File:Streetq.png|Streets of Rapture Internationalstyle.jpg 1952equipment_imagine600ftunderwater.jpg|On the surface you could use this File:HooverWaterSide.jpg|Huge Concrete Project Designnn.jpg|Looks Rapture-ish - More Tubular structures makes sense Concretearch.jpg|idea for proper support of all the viaducts THISisaViaduct.jpg|A real world 'viaduct' between buildings Mercurysuites.jpg|Tall buildings being advertised Real Skyscrapers Construction - Differences : Terrestrial buildings (ones on 'The Surface') have I/L beams (steel girders) used as the support skeleton, originally riveted, then welded and pinned together. The primary structure supports itself mostly against gravity - holding up the building's own weigh (and its contents), and keeping from toppling over in the wind/earthquakes. The walls are simply fastened to the steel skeleton, and only need to block the weather and hold the windows. Rapture buildings are more like a submarine's hull. They need to hold out the significant the water pressure (from all sides, every opening). If you've seen a WW2 movie of a submarine being depth-charged and diving deep and the pressure starts crushing the hull - that depth condition is what's facing Rapture's buildings. - A Process for Rapture building construction includes graduated pressure/Immersion Testing (to prove there are no defects/weak points), and to allow corrections BEFORE anything further is risked. Rapture Construction processes were improved over time (and other early city buildings would be retrofitted for various discovered weaknesses). - Many of the Real World building designs which Rapture buildings mimicked were shaped by City Zoning Laws and Ordinances which limited height and building shape profiles. They eventually had exceptions for 'Towers' which were a fraction of the area of the building layout and often made allowances for higher unoccupied (decorative) extensions. To prevent blocking out sunlight the buildings had 'setbacks', with the sides stepping inwards as the height increased. In cities, Buildings were built higher to maximize their capacity upon very expensive city real estate. The added high cost of those tall buildings meant few of great height were built. ---- Blocky is It (Rapture Construction) : Why Are My Rapture Buildings (seen in my Amended Level Maps ) So Block-like and Well Anchored to (and into) the Seabed ? (see the maps with their 'basement' and 'foundation' levels) I've drawn the buildings with Monolithic shapes because their structures are mostly walled with thick reinforced concrete. (Any bits that stick out, if they include inhabited space, NEED a similarly thick structure to hold OUT all that water pressure - making them typically blocky). Many buildings would thus be shaped fairly SQUAT to maximize internal living space, in ratio to the external walls. Buildings would also be sturdy/solid because you don't want them to sway, shake and shimmy in ocean currents (( '' Like Columbia would have been while floating in the air - Booker would be vomiting in no time, and throughout the city you would find Barfbags for sale in every vending machine. Watch the early scenes were you walk past buildings bobbing up and down.'' )). Less height also means less force leverage, from Ocean currents bearing upon building surfaces, which unless strengthened could otherwise topple the structures. You also want different building sections to stay attached to each other (most were prefabricated in parts, assembled in whole sections up on the surface) to maintain proper seals. Even when flexible joints are used, you don't want them shifting out of alignment and exceeding their rated sealing ability. So standard large FLAT interface surfaces are common in the design. If you look at the ORIGINAL interior level plans, and superimpose their floors (within the same 'level' map set), you see too many irregular bits sticking PAST other parts of the floors above/below. The external walls NEED to encompass ALL floor's existing dimensions. Those irregularities are (on my maps) simplified (filled out) into more basic contiguous flat surfaces and boxy volumes. Simple volumes/walls/joints are also simpler to construct. Manhattan skyline - here looking as it did at the end of the 20s/early 30s when the Crash happened. Further building was largely slowed/stopped (The Empire State Building completed 1931 was called the "Empty State Building", and was largely unoccupied throughout the Roosevelt Depression), and then WW2 shut down most new non-war building construction. Rapture appears built to resemble this New York City cityscape, but in 1946 it largely would be as it appears here, and NOT with all the later changes of the Post-War boom. NOTE - Most buildings there are quite short - six or less stories high, leaving the few towering Skyscrapers to stand out. --- --- --- Hidden Places, Out Of Sight Out Of Mind, Skeletons in the Closet : Only a fraction of the city (Rapture) was visible to you (when you played the games) with many over and under parts (behind ceilings/floors/walls). We can have all those utility spaces and access hatches leading to many new adventures in the MMORPG. The outside views showed much overdone 'arty' building views, but you never got to see those interiors. --- --- --- Visual Eye Candy : Nazi prisoners during WW2 being transported via New York, on seeing the NY skyline (literally) thought it was some Hollywood trick (there being virtually no skyscrapers in Europe at that time). So Rapture with its similar skyscraper skyline views might be impressive to those whom never saw the like. --- --- --- Rapture's Standardized Construction ''': Even for other 'Investors' (rich people who ALSO paid to build Rapture) construction - the Primary structures all had to meet significant safety standards and compatible interfaces/interconnections to the rest of Rapture (portals/passages and utilities). Standardization helped minimize costs and ease construction difficulties (interchangeable/modular parts at several component levels made Surface Construction more efficient/cost-effective). Rapture was largely built within the same period of time, and so wouldn't reflect as much eclectic differences which most cities accumulated over many decades of regrowth and rebuilding. Internal construction/decoration could vary significantly within the primary/external structure (which was mostly what we saw playing the games). --- --- --- '''Building Structures vs Water Pressure: * Water depths (like ~600-800 feet at base of buildings) * Looking at those square Rapture buildings (real submarines pressure hulls are built as tubes which withstand pressure in a simpler way). * Tall buildings would need huge interior support struts every couple of floors to support the huge forces of pressure pressing inward on those flat walls (pressing in at 280 psi.) * Fortunately concrete can withstand alot of compression force, add Ryanium rebar (all the lower quality stuff generated via production difficulties...) * Some of the tall buildings have thick support columns outside alternating with the windows which could distribute the forces between the interior compression struts running crosswise between the exterior walls. * Blind walls can be solid reinforced concrete more than a few feet thick. * Large picture windows are the most problematic as the stress in the middle has to be passed out to the edges and the forces increase linearly with the window size. * Many of the skylight windows are barrel vaults which at least take some of the pressure forces as compression (like an arch or tube would). Curved glass windows might be used in various places. * Exposed metal should be brass or stainless steel to avoid corrosion (and eventual structural failure). Many large pipes/girders were more conventional steel but required Zinc treatment to avoid corrosion. --- --- --- Better Concrete : The RIGHT Formulation of Concrete (with timely placement and careful mixing/handling) is needed to meet the strength requirements for deep water structures. With surface pre-construction, sea-compatible hydraulic cement need not be used there, allowing MUCH BETTER cement application properties. As much construction as possible would be done to maximize efficiency/quality and to minimize expense/construction-time --- --- --- Uh, Aluminum ? : ref find the BaSx declaration that Ryan would build using aluminum instead of steel ... That game reference to Aluminum was some weird (wrong) things to have Ryan say - 'the Steel supply will be watched so I'll use Aluminum ...'. Aluminum was far more expensive, and was watched even more closely as a resource (so its nonsensical). Millions of tons of Steel, in a postwar boom, is far easier to lose-track-of/to-obscure/sidetrack ... Alleging Aluminum to be used instead of Steel is faulty anyway, because you couldn't really afford to build the whole City out of metal. Remember that this statement is ALSO from the BaSx DLC, which has to (very) often be '' "taken with a grain of salt" '' as to what is stated in it (much detail is sloppy in it). The same goes for Steel, which would be only reinforcement for the concrete which made up the vast majority of the construction material. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebar Steel still would be 'it' (for REBAR reinforcing of concrete), if properly material-engineered. That might be somewhat advanced for that earlier city construction period though. Ryan likely would have underwater construction in his Industrial Empire -- HE BETTER ALREADY HAVE THAT TO EVEN THINK OF BUILDING RAPTURE ('underwater' city). Aluminium CAN work a bit better as rebar (reinforcement bars) in concrete exposed to Salt Water, than using Steel rebar. Water does seep slowly through concrete and can cause internal corrosion and structural weakening -- doubly bad if it is Salt Water. SO for the building shell, Aluminum helps a bit for the concrete rebar (when ordinary steel rebar can still be used in the interior supports which are far less exposed to salt water). To handle the 'salt' environment factor, there are problems (anyway) requiring special concrete formulation and rebar plating/coating, whether you use Aluminum or Steel (elsewhere I've had Basalt (rock) fiber rebar mentioned). Ph control additives, not mixing different metals, and other types of corrosion prevention can also be done. Still, Aluminium does a bit better. Aluminium has stress deformation/breakdown problems which might be less an issue for this, if for physical flexing/temperature differentials which would be minimized with massive concrete construction (8+ feet thick structural walls, and internal reinforcements which wouldn't flex). You would hope Rapture was somewhat sheltered, ie- located INSIDE a volcanic crater (but it still would get some turbulence, even when out of direct ocean currents). Better with most buildings being quite a bit shorter than those Manhattan Skyline-like views (looking good for a window game view is that height's only reason). The top half/third of many of those tall buildings might even just be for show (Art Deco tower ...) and might be more flexible (not concrete/pressure-tight, and with ship metal corrosion techniques applied there). Concept art showed curved buildings (resists water currents more), but we got mostly squared/rectangular in the game views. --- --- --- Connecting Between Buildings : See the nice heavy metal girders within this Viaduct structure ? Such would be needed to support the great force pressing in on all sides due to the water's pressure at Rapture's depth. The curving upward forms an arch, so that the inward force can be opposed by the force on the opposite wall (and between floor and ceiling). There should be more of that thick metal as those girders extend outward beyond the window panes (opposing the pressure force in tension versus compression) on the inside - to properly brace/support the window. The window panes themselves need to be quite thick, and preferably something far stronger than glass. The "Rapture" Novel talks about "Ryanium", as the author realized the limitations of glass (and says this Ryanium material is fairly expensive). You notice the buildings aren't fully covered in windows (as later buildings on the Surface were frequently built). That material could be some plastic like PolyCarbonate (which still has only 1/5th to 1/10th the strength of ordinary Steel). Those HUGE window panes, we saw in a number of places (Neptunes Bounty and even larger in BaSx), would still be too incredible. That rotating thingee on the Securis Door is largely for show -- even then that would only tighten seals, as such a door doesn't NEED to be locked into place by bolts like a Bank Vault. Explained elsewhere, what we see move as the door opens or closes is just one of a pair of outer blocking doors (acting as a 'door' for the passage through its portal, fire and airtight at normal pressures), which keeps the doorway clear. This is incase the REAL Pressure Door needs to engage when there is a major leak - the required emergency door simply weighs too much (as in tons) to constantly open and close quickly. --- --- --- Rapture Tunnel Construction Process : First task is to survey, discover and verify an adequate expanse of a quality rock formation. Some areas in the volcanic 'crater' surface were deeply filled with loose debris and were not suitable. (These would already have been largely avoided for the 'Building' type construction, as those required adequate/stable support and anchoring of themselves into solid seabed). Intervening bad rock, when detected, would be avoided (tunnels can be built in any direction), or if required would be bridged with conventional heavy concrete tunnel construction. Best was large thick monolithic beds of solid volcanic rock which had been deposited in one flow from the ancient undersea volcano. The tunnels had a consistent 'standard' geometry (ie- a basic 20 foot usable interior diameter) which allowed semi-automated machinery to do a bulk of the work, including transporting the bulky waste rock away to disposal sites out in the Ocean (Earlier waste rock of this type (being solid/strong), was used as basic and filler aggregate for the concrete building construction -- another place the plasma 'fracturing' technique was developed). Prefabricated liner and other components could be efficiently made elsewhere in Rapture. A complex of interconnecting tunnels would be planned out to meet the requirements for that city expansion cluster. Sufficient extra space was allowed for likely 'bad' sections of rock which would not be used. The tunnels would be built progressively in segments, with transport for the growing tunnel construction being well planned (equivalent of mine tracks or the 'Tram' used by Fontaine's smuggling tunnel to Arcadia). Tunnels were circularly connected - always with two ways in (and out), and with many alternate paths through the tunnel network. They could be stacked into levels, with vertical tunnels for stairwells/elevators, and where needed tunnels could be sloped to serve as ramps. Cutting rock with plasma cutters (narrow extremely hot electrically-ionized gas jets (like a welding rig) followed with a water jet causes the rock to shatter. This allows you to cut out blocks to form the tunnel space with fair precision. (The technique had already been utilized to cut the huge basement/anchoring holes out of bedrock for Rapture's buildings - done from the city's construction start.) Work was often done at above Water Pressure before the tunnel segment was sealed (you don't want leaks/sprays of water fouling the construction process). The Rock around the tunnel space was heated and melted to form a single surface. Bore holes (another plasma technique) radiating out from the bare tunnel face would serve to find any potentially weak/leaky rock around the tunnel. If needed, weak sections could be 'annealed' via remelt using the plasma-heating techniques (solidifying any fractured rock around the tunnel space to assure pressure/structural integrity). Loose rock in the walls could be reinforced by melting and 'welding' the rock together and 'pinning' with melted and filled bore holes. The Newly created tunnel segments would be depressurized to one atmosphere, and for a period the bare rock face was inspected for any leakage or shifting - identifying any weak points. Detectors with pressure and sound sensors would be used during the 'proofing' period. Reinforced linings would then be added to further seal the inside (and reinforce any minor weak points), These would be well fastened to the rock facing and to the reinforcement rod/post filled borehole anchors. Sampling sensors (tap traps) would be left in place outside the wall shell to allow periodic inspections for new leak activity/instability. Emergency Pressure Doors were added at regular intervals to contain potential failure. (Done at many junctions to sufficiently Safety-Partition the tunnels.) Depending on use, additional safety systems would be added appropriately (ie- Residential areas got the most extensive measures). After the full set of the concrete and confirmation testing, the interior was built up to facilitate the living space. Utility areas were blocked off and filled with all the required conduits/pipes/vents/lines/machinery (again standardized and prefabricated as much as possible) . Interior walls/floors/false ceilings were built-up and furnished/decorated appropriately. --- --- --- Some larger 'Cavern' spaces could be built using a similar process, with the large volume expanses requiring greater interior support (more like the interior force distribution structures of the 'buildings' above). Dome shape designs would be logical, as they provide an 'arch' type support of the rock walls. Internal support pillars and ribbing would be needed for the larger open spaces. A network of transport tunnels would be built containing normal walkways (bicycle and electro-cart accessible), and others connecting into the City Tram system (which already had more than a few 'tunnel' segments built in the ~1950 Rapture Transit Trolley consolidation rebuild.) Utilities would be connected through the same tunnels. The city's tunnel expansion might be considered as the 'suburbs' of Rapture. Designed to fit the needs of an expanding population, and having some improvements evident from the first Phase construction. With the use of standardization to lower costs they might also be called Raptures Levittown (Levittown NY, 1947, was the first truly mass-produced suburb in the USA). Some long tunnels crossed longer distances between the Tunnel Clusters and the rest of the city. A few were even build as 'roads' sufficient to operate small automobiles (that trend was soon stopped by the Terrorism, Chaos and Ruin brought by Fontaine/Atlas). Sewer and seepage control systems would be integrated. The usual system of safety bulkheads would be done to protect from catastrophic flooding. ---- Concept picture which shows actual foundations below the typical building structures seen. Also there is more utility stuff down near the seabed. Generally in-game Window 'Out in Ocean' views they just extended the same visible building pattern down ridiculously far so they wouldn't need to draw anything else (BS1 with a limited render budget looking at a space that was secondary anyway - but it can't be taken as what would need to be there, which the MMORPG would have). Wasn't Art Deco enough I guess. Note the rounded building corners which would be logical for underwater construction. And NOT the array of windows (though still too tall - too many floors) ---- Window Fun In The Deep Blue Sea. Diagram of pressure forces stressing a square window pane. Note -- in the middle it is MANY MANY TIMES AS GREAT as at the edges -- its the leverage of the force pushing in at the middle of all the unsupported 'glass'. ---- Tectonic plate which causes the volcanic activity that raised the Sea Mount (undersea volcano) which Rapture is built within (at a far shallower depth than the ocean seabed which is more than 3000 feet deep at this point in the Atlantic Ocean). ---- Big Daddy wandering through the subterranean Foundation levels (where various utilities existed, and the structure seepage was drained to for extraction -- you cannot stop the seepage, only minimize and then handle it). Of course the Big Daddies would use the Foundation Tunnels to get around for their maintenance activities. The tram tracks also are useful for moving all the various equipment and replacement/repaired machinery that Rapture needed. --- Viaducts made for pretty Sea Scenes, linking buildings (better hope that glass is REALLY strong) --- --- --- Building shape - Geodesic Dome or Sphere: There should be at least one 'theme' building built in this shape. The curved surface allows the whole building to be one curved pressure wall with much less internal bracing. Unfortunately the same curves limit and complicate the internal space (reason why you don't live in one today or house with curved walls). Cylinder : Cylinder shaped building would also be built. The design is not as simple as slab sided buildings, it works better for the internal compression struts that are required for ALL the buildings to not collapse in on themselves from the oceans pressure. I could see at least one of the building cluster 'Centers' in Rapture built around a concentric circle theme (including cylindrical buildings and curved viaducts to link them. If you look at various examples of Art Deco buildings, you often see the use of curved sections in the architecture. --- --- --- Metal Exceptions : Some Areas of Buildings in Rapture needed more 'gracile' structuring (ex- certain areas with large/huge aesthetic windows) where the standard THICK concrete support structure method could not be used. It was always possible to make that construction mostly out of METAL (rather thick, but less thick that using concrete), so to be able to maintain its required structural strength and integrity. That that could be done IF someone was willing to go to the expense to do so (They cost more than 10X as much as Rapture's common reinforced concrete construction). Note - This metal use still is included WITH the 'smaller than huge' more realistic windows correction done on various game scenes ( IE- Neptunes Bounty ). Windows are generally like that anyway (Metal had to directly support/surround the 'glass', and then that material transmits/transfers the inward forces of all that outside water pressure on into the primary building structure (which generally was a huge mass of reinforced concrete). --- --- --- Steel Rusts, Even Aluminum Corrodes, So Basalt ? ''' : Basal-based Rebar (reinforcement bar for concrete construction) can be made from the igneous rock 'Basalt' which happens to be a common constituent of mid-atlantic ridge volcanoes. Basalt can be formed into fibers with sufficient tensile strength to serve to reinforce concrete (which has high COMPRESSION strength, but by itself very low TENSILE strength -- a good thing to have when versatility of transmitting great forces throughout a concrete building is needed). . . . . . . . Realworld Basalt 'rebar' is made using fiber made from basalt rock, which is is melted at around 1500C and extrudesd as seen in this picture. . . . . . . . . . --- --- --- '''Rapture's Warranty hasn't run out yet : Interesting to see some buildings (in external window views) with substantial external damage but with lights still on inside (already mentions that leaning one you see out window in Proving Grounds). SO the structural integrity held up (maintaining the pressure seals - in at least sections of the building), which shows how Rapture was properly built over-engineered --- Planned to last for 100 years -- which would be the time Ryan might expect his people to be able to emerge back into the World after it blew itself up (and all the 'ant people' were dead) and then was safe again to rebuild it. --- --- --- Interior Construction : Once the watertight structure segments are locked together into the building (below at Rapture), and the inside is watertight and stable, then ALL the rest of the work takes place in the interior. All the : * scaffolding/equipment/transport/forms/construction machinery * interior walls * floors * stairs/ramps * doors * windows * columns * elevators * pipes/conduits/power/wiring/lights/ventilation/pumps/communications/connections (all utilities) * brickwork/tiles/woodwork/stone/plaster/metal/glass/carpets surfacing * paint and polish * decorations --- --- --- Assembling Rapture's Tall Buildings from Large Pre-made Sections : Sections built on/near Surface (where its easier and assembled from smaller pre-made components), are made buoyant and are floated (neutral buoyancy) down to the construction sight. To make a tall building (like those more than 6 stories) you must join stacked sections, matching them up with great precision to properly fasten and seal them, to become structurally sound. The joining needs to be carefully guided and controlled, being anchored against any Ocean currents, and guided/winched into exact place and held securely while being fastened (Rebar tied together and more concrete added to solidify the joint). Sealing the sections at their join points must be done completely -- when you have water pressure outside at upto 280 lb/sq in (a hairline crack will have water spraying in and can fill any space in little time). A similar process is done to assemble horizontal sections of the shorter/sprawling buildings, and the 'Street' viaducts. - Mass Replicated of standard building (exterior) sections on dry land would be most efficient/least-costly. Made using the concrete poured into forms (pre-filled with carefully positioned/tied-together Rebar (steel reinforcement rods/bar/wires). Care would be taken to have the concrete Set completely, for minimal defects (much easier done out of water). The sections would have Temporary Seals plugging all interconnecting (including utility) ways. Those would be later dismantled after installation on the seabed. Such temporary might be put back(rebuilt to close a building for flood repairs (unfortunately alot of the installed interior work/utilities/etc.. still can be ruined after being flooded with sea water). --- --- --- Footings for Buildings and Misc Other Structures (like Viaducts and AE track support towers) : ''' * Added to stabilize below foundations dug into into bedrock (My Level maps show many of them). * Extensive footings are needed for tall buildings to handle the sideways forces of water currents and eddies. * Before planning for construction even is halfway through, the location has to be checked for a solid seabed by drilling a pattern of deep exploratory holes to verify stability. (The holes can double as footings later.) This is a another reason why short buildings would be less expensive, as they have less strict requirements as there are for tall buildings. --- --- --- '''Efficient External Decoration : Lots of cast cement architectural decorations in Real World (Up On The Surface) Art Deco. Art Deco used various CAST decorations, used repetitively (in modular combinations) and fastened to the main structure. Logical for Rapture with its lack of local supply (or the high cost of importing during its build phase) additional materials. Cement supplies used by the majority of construction is available. Monumental decorations like those big statues seen at the entrance to Persephone had to be concrete. Note - Rapture's Location Water Depth means that exterior decoration have to be only a short distance away to be seen. --- --- --- Lots of Floors in Tall Buildings : Because of the need for Rapture building's pressure withstanding structure (with the ~600 ft depths involved) there is a greater separation between building floors to accommodate thick floor plates (of reinforced concrete) which extend cross the building to support the opposite massive forces pressing inward on both sides of those exterior walls. Thus all the stairs are a bit longer in order to climb a greater than normal floor separation. Unfortunately the building views you see through the windows don't reflect this extra spacing (besides they're often having at least twice the number of floors which buildings in Rapture should be limited less than (20-25 floors, instead of 50), which can still look plenty enormous, particularly when a majority of Raptures buildings shouldn't be much more than 5 floors). --- --- --- Thousands of Wooden Water Tanks (Local Water Systems) : Water Tanks Existed on Roofs of Most multistory city Buildings pre-20s (tanks were integrated into upper stories of skyscrapers later). City water routinely was low pressure (and pressure went down the higher the buildings became). A building needed to have sufficient water pressure for the buildings occupants, so they pumped water to the roof into a reservoir which raise the pressure significantly. The tanks often were made of wood and raised on legs (a small water tower). You can still see such tanks on buildings today. YOU didn't really fly in Infinite BS (definitely NOT freely), so you couldn't see so much roof detail (Ooh, peaked roofs, Wow, How old-school). Realistically (assuming the gamemakers care about 'realistic'), there could be huge amounts of possible detail in such a 'cityscape', in plain view under those bright and pretty open skies. The Infinite BS gamemaker/developers barely represented them, no matter how interesting such detail would be (to have it be like a REAL city, instead of one made of shiny gingerbread). Columbia's Skybox views were more distant and conveniently made even more indistinct by clouds/haze-effects and such. Rapture's narrow window views Skyboxes (like at Hephaestus BS1) were made of 2D pictures which COULD show alot of detail. MMORPG Rapture would have no external water tanks, the water systems would be integrated into the buildings (the height/pressure thing still comes into play). --- --- --- Bronze Fittings for seawater immersion (bronze resists saltwater corrosion) --- --- --- How an Automatic Sliding Door Works See Securis Note - Its even less likely for any automatic opening doors to exist in Columbia. Door is hanging (rollers & track) or surface sliding (and is in guideways), slide up/sideways (down jams too much with crap falling into the works) Sensor/activator mechanism (floorplate or electric eye or manual button) - single action mechanisms are fairly easy via a triggered latch and a spring/weight driven movement, but double action (ie- reversing the movement/motion and reset automatically) is ALOT more complicated. Engagable/disengaging mechanisms require much more complexity. Sliding-way surface (slot/rollers - low friction) door slides into recessed space adjacent to door. Actuator (both directions) pneumatic piston, motor drive (small motors), possibly counter-weighted Lock (if any) disengages activation as well as physically locks door closed Crap can block the doors movement (unless actuator is capable of huge force - hopefully with an override safety 'crush-prevention' sensors) Rapture-depth Pressure doors extremely complicated (very strong seals often for both directions) and very heavy - huge motor/mechanism needed to operate it. Diagram of the Cosmetic vs Pressure doors (which is more like an emergency bulkhead) Mistake that level designers make is missing doors that DON'T have enough space adjacent for the doors to slide into (I saw some in BioShock (which slide up) actually extrude through their frames at the top because the door was not inset deep enuf in the wall). Other places, the doors are too close to exterior walls and windows putting their mechanisms outside the structure. --- --- --- Technologies Remote Closed Circuit TV Camera - Used in Construction : This got an early start in Rapture because of its use in the City Construction (a whole lot of remote controlled machineries, working with pre-fabricated building sections/components, in lieu of many more Suited Men grunt workers). That at least gives the tech a long prep time for its use later in those Security Cameras seen in the games - many not necessarily being quite 'automatic'. Instead, as suggested in the Novel, having some kind of 'flasher recognition' type friend/foe mechanism could be a good/workable solution (ignoring the game not mentioning/having any such explanation/elaboration). Construction Automation (also elaborated upon in the Novel), being an important factor in building Rapture, would need to SEE to direct the work going on. Consider : when steam shovels were first being employed in the US - one shovel did the work of over a hundred laborers using pick/shovel/wheelbarrows, and were so cost effective that they paid themselves off within a year. Consider that Deep Sea Hardsuits (required for the depths involved at Rapture) were very complicated and extremely expensive to use (and required highly trained men to both be in them and to maintain/operate them). SO A work multiplier like the Remotes used with automation to build Rapture would have been one of the early achievements. NO ADAM REQUIRED The Novel Author has this Automation aspect (in some detail). --- --- --- Problem With Any External Rapture Building Decorations : ''' Darkness. Little point of decoration if not visible (or of limited viability). You cannot see them from very far away -- light visibility dwindles '''VERY fast in (even pure) water (and even faster in pollution-murky water like probably existed around Rapture). Graph So no matter how blindingly lit, such decorations just won't have the impact a well lit high tower would have in a city in the open air . External decorations should be mostly clustered where they can be seen from VERY CLOSE to adjacent windows, or from submarines which pass close bye (and the whole automobile-like private sub idea has already largely been eliminated for any significant traffic beyond seaborne public transportation) - Pollution-murky Water - Like There Probably Existed Around Rapture : Sea currents near the surface clear the water, but eddies (Rapture is down in a 'crater'-like bowl shaped seabed formation) Settles down in between buildings ... Cloudy bacteria filled water from sewage discharge Prevailing Ocean Currents wash in one direction generally --- --- --- Elevators Stop Working and All Those Ridiculously Tall Building Are Doomed ''' : You try walking up and down 20 floors to do routine things. Maybe if the buildings could be self-contained (food being the needed item, assuming the utilities stay on). There is a cost to 'high-rise' type building, which includes the extra maintenance. In REAL cities it was the scarcity of land space that drove tall buildings (and if you look at a picture of NYC/Manhattan you will see that even today the vast majority of buildings are 6 or less stories tall). SO corrections to Rapture for the MMORPG would reflect similar logical building practices. --- --- --- '''Lighting in the Murky Depths : Rapture's Ocean Signs need to be close to the observers/viewers because of the way water absorbs light over even short distances. BIG illuminations (bright enough to be seen any real distance) would be VERY expensive, and would eat the profits of a small company (even if Electric Power is relatively cheap in Rapture - it takes ALOT of Light, and there is no daylight down there, add to the original cost and maintenance as well). OMG you take all the fun out of the game !!! If you wanted fantasy THAT MUCH it should have been playing a Shooter called "Land of The Killer Easter Bunny" Can be added as a mini-game having something to do with Sander Cohen's demented mind, with sprays of candy instead of blood, and pretty colorful splodey gibs, and fanastic weird FUN weapons which make absurd/funny noises. (Saw an interesting billboard signs of 40s and 30s - but then those to be seen in daylight) --- --- --- Those Cable Suspended Light Globe Things : You saw out in the Ocean near buildings in BS1. To be of any use the would have to be very bright (better than brights shone from near you that would obliterate view (more) in the murky water 'Murky Water' was one of Rapture's most popular Blues Bands). Of course this means that close to them you get blinded by them. There's no reason they are just cables with warning lights - normally run along seabed for that is more likely/simpler. For that it would be a liability to submarines, and they would be red lights as well. Actually maybe the Skyline in Columbia coulda had some fancy lights to liven things up. Imaging going along a skyline level loop in the dark with things like that. --- --- --- So why Wasn't Rapture Built At a Higher Internal Air Pressure to Simplify Construction ?? ' : '''Q : ' WHY NOT HAVE each part of the city be adjusted in pressure to be only within a fraction of 1 atmosphere (14.7 psi ) difference to the immediate outside water - thus allowing much thinner construction and less strength/expense/complication being required ??? 'A : ' Rapture's depth would have to be at least deep enough for the darkness the game portrayed, and also to be far enough from the water surface to have the tall buildings (or somewhat more reasonable tall building than the ridiculous ones portrayed), and THEN have THEIR tops far enough below to not be scraped off by passing ships or icebergs. Also, weird things start happening at high pressure to things like burning/combustion, humidity, and to human physiology. Constant significant pressure changes also can be deadly (just from moving up or down in the city between sections at different pressures) (( google "The Bends" and "Nitrogen Narcosis" )). Consider your ears popping on airplanes - which is really only a small psi difference. The game designers originally though about something like this in BioShock's early design time, but the environment theme fell away because of it being so alien (and complications like the Player wearing a pressure suit). The whole Art Deco "New York Under the Sea" thing took over. 'Q : ' Wouldn't pressurizing up the interior a few atmospheres help some ? Make it a somewhat higher constant pressure (like a couple of atmospheres) as an ambient in an attempt to ease the construction requirement ? 'A : ' It wouldn't save much as it wouldn't help when your base water pressure at the likely depth (~600 feet) is still about 19 atmospheres (280 psi -- it goes up about 1 Atm per 30 feet in water depth). You would save a little, but it would still require almost as massive construction for the many additional atmospheres that STILL had to be held out. You ALSO had to build short building (shorter as even compared to half the height those seen in the game pictures) fairly substantially anyway -- as the sea currents/turbulence put great forces on the flat sides of large building - made all the worse by leverage against their anchorings on the seabed - growing ever greater the taller they are. 'Q : ' SO why not build Rapture all at the same shallow depth to allow just one fairly low pressure for the whole place ? 'A : ' That Would mean a very flat city, with virtually no vertical buildings (none of those iconic tall skyscraper buildings). To have a 'city' population it would then have to cover a very large area. Most of the Ocean isn't that shallow (except NEAR the shore - even bays/lakes are hundreds of feet deep), and THAT would make Rapture fairly easy to find, being that close to the Surface. ( '' Note - strangeness of that rather blatant highly visible Lighthouse existing in the face of the story's "secrecy" - still there from years before BS1 happened '' ). So it was simplest to maintain a single constant Sea Level pressure environment, no matter how far up/down (and using whatever required construction) to have least environmental impact on all humans/plants/animals/machinery -- build the structure at all points able to handle whatever the outside pressure (but not to deep as to be technically absurd as some of the promotional pictures have it). 600 feet depth was doable with the technology available at the end of WW2, just that it would be expensive, and require some improvements to make it work routinely/safely. The audacity to do so would also be required. --- --- --- '''Lotsa issues -- THINGS TO FIX : . . . . . . . . . . . . * Poor Access ** Interconnects and transport are near Street level ** Going up and down elevators alot is wasteful ** Needs more interconnecting Viaducts Verticalness.jpg|TOO MANY TOO TALL BUILDINGS * Too tall when it is not needed (lots of empty real estate around Rapture), ** Massive foundations required to anchor ** Elevators are expensive (and complicated by too many unneeded floors) ** 'Tall' incurs significant extra expense * If EVERY building is tall then 'tallness' is no longer special * Thin buildings are inefficient (thick walls/utility space eats most of the interior spaces) * Decorative towers barely seen in dark water * Rapture simply wasn't this big (hard enough funding building for 20000-40000 people) --- --- --- Interior Wall Details : Rapture's Structural Walls are very thick reinforced concrete. But for aesthetic needs, an inner wall is usually in place : * Sometimes we see wood behind tile surfacing * Other times there is bare concrete behind the wallpaper * Wood wainscoting (3 foot tall partial wall cover) * Some seen are false walls with space behind (wood and metal supports) for pipes and such * Pipes seen exposed under the floor and behind walls and ceilings * Ceiling/walls collapse with BIG chunks of (rebar) reinforced concrete showing * Metal bracing for false walls * Metal plate/sheet walls in industrial areas like Hephaestus and Neptunes Bounty * Glass brick walls * Wood wall partitions with interior windows * Decorative pillars and columns --- --- --- Height Is Decorative : If some of the tops of the (too) tall buildings are merely decorative towers (a frequent Art Deco feature) then some don't even have to be solid (rather be empty/non-waterproofed structure). Could be just a girder tower to mount the lights (which is about all that might be visible only a short distance away anyway) which WAS commonly done on some buildings. Girders have less water resistance to currents/eddies and thus would be far cheaper to construct. --- --- --- Foliage in Rapture : If I had designed Rapture (and this is something to change for the MMORPG), I would have had ALOT more interior planter boxes (spaces for) to moderate the closed interior spaces (more in affluent areas - as the light for them would have to be artificial/paid for). Herb garden, flowers, prestige lawns, etc... Of course in the BS1/BS2 times, many would look all dead and ratty due to nobody tending them any more. For the MMORPG's New Rapture, nice green ones would be a common sight (and something the Player could get/make/cultivate). (( Another City Job - Urban Gardener/Landscaper )) --- --- --- OH THAT Game Roof Damage ... EASY - Just Add Some Props and Jacks ... NOT.) : In BS2 Paupers Drop you see various props and hydraulic jacks supposedly holding up damaged sections of building ceilings. It is more likely that those are really sub-ceilings/floors, as the REAL structure 'roof' has to be incredibly (massively) thick, and the damage/breakage they presented in those scenes would have made for catastrophic leaks -- which would have disastrously flooded the area and made it uninhabitable. No jack could hold such forces out for the large collapsed ceiling panels they show (( Example - one smaller 5x5 foot section facing the 600 foot depth 280 lb/sq in. pressure - that's 25x144 sq inches times 280 lb of force - that's 1008000 lb total equaling 500+ tons -- which is quite a bit more than those Jacks you see in the game can stand - even that not blocking the leak. THAT'S for a MUCH smaller bit of broken ceiling than they show them propping up in-game. )) - You see huge metal piers inside Paupers Drop holding up a high ceiling Pix111. If you didn't realize : To be correct, there ALSO should be JUST AS MASSIVE sideways struts holding those large wall surfaces apart too. The sea water presses-in, with equally massive pressure in all directions (Underwater you don't just hold up the weight of the building roof -- its that 600+ feet of water above pressing with with 280 pounds PER SQUARE INCH on EVERY external surface -- top/bottom/sides). --- --- --- Things of Note : How many elevators/stairs are needed for a really tall building (and how much of the interior volume it takes up by them). How thin the walls are (compared to the deep water massive thickness that would be required for Rapture buildings). The walls were really only 2 bricks deep (the steel frame supported everything and the walls merely hung from that framework). Diagram Illustrates volume usage of tall buildings. Rapture would require more as all the air has to come from elsewhere and the heating systems are more extensive. Building walls in Rapture are massive compared to this building. --- --- --- Rapture was 'The Art' of the Facade ''' : Limitations of a small population (20k? 40k? if even smaller then the BIG cityscape is even more absurd) Skyline of buildings that look bigger than they are (handy that Art Deco often had showy elements) Stores (downsized from BaSx Bigification for reality) should be more typical of what you'd find in a small town. Malls - again, make more reasonably sized rather than something blatantly enlarged for an open battle venue which some game needs. Department store - ghost town - good way for Fontaine to bankrupt himself. Most businesses in Rapture would be small - with hardly any 'assembly line type operations. Many goods were simply stuff originally made/brought from Surface. Much more prevalent would be 'repair' businesses and sellers of 'Used' items, which Rapture never could make itself (except as a few way-too-expensive 'custom' productions). "Artists" who in big cities already can barely make a living - and come to Rapture which is no Welfare State. Who will 'buy' all this art ? "Don't quit you Day Job" should have been emphasized in the game (same for Scientists actually to 'make a living', even if they are better than average.) - '''Same problem for Columbia, except even more Problematic : The new magic SteamPunky technology would NOT have existed in the Surface world to be obtained there. Mass production doesn't work withing tiny populations. Even with slave labor most modern goods couldn't be produced with any profit or sustainability (What does it matter when the important thing was trying to denounce Laissez Faire business? Most players probably didn't care anyway - just that whatever it is is 'bad' and needed to be shot/blown up/slaughtered. Funny thing is : that idealized 'Paris' is based on exactly the same thing - but that somehow didn't happen to get mentioned.) That's ignoring : Factories without source of raw materials ... everything else shown was absurd Fantasy, so what's it matter ??? (Unless you think THAT historic American economy Columbia was supposed to represent was based on use of Magic Wands and Magic Spells. But remember its "Historic" and thus relevant !!! , because they told us so... OVER AND OVER. BS.) So in reality, the "facade" was moreso a game designer's/writer's careless presentation, when 'social relevancy' was the alleged over-hyped theme. --- --- --- Fire Escapes in Rapture ??? Obviously the 'classic' type (external) fire escapes (seen on so many real world buildings) make little sense out deep in the ocean, but there are some multistory interior scenes where they might be possible. Some of Rapture's interior (cavernous) spaces are 3 stories high, and fires CAN happen with the interior walls and furnishings (even with the main structure being concrete), and fumes/smoke being trapped in the enclosed spaces. Multiple exits would be the a typical safety measure. --- --- --- Emergency Bulkhead Considerations : Any automated seal or a blast door or gate is made up of any number of moving parts that slide/rotate in either direction to open - horizontal, vertical in one or two parts. Things can get more or less complicated depending on the mechanisms use of gravity (dropping a heavy door is easier than lifting one into a closed position and its weight may 'crush' obstructions out of the way). If the door is for security, then it needs to be firm and resilient to tampering, inaccessible to disassembly and to external damage from at least one side, but securely contained also from the other side to keep the mechanism stable and isolated from accidental damage. The bulkhead door should be inset within a track for proper securing/sealing and for structural stability reasons. You need safety and security from either direction as a design goal (either side could have the leak/flood). You also have to account for additional space to house the motors, hydraulics, magnetism or whatever tech is employed to operate the door (possibly several mechanisms depending on the design and the intended function of the door). You usually have a space/volume beyond the doorway to act as a door rest/recess into the structure for a heavy door to clear, which increases its material costs. A worthwhile expenditure especially if the door is for safety or security. You need a strong containment wall between the area on one side, the resting space for the door and on the other side - doubling the reinforced surface structure at that point. The door mechanism requires a full maintenance access from both sides or you are 'out of luck' when it malfunctions or gets jammed. Even simple repair/servicing otherwise would necessitate some major disassembly and reassembly operation, which is clearly undesirable in most of the environments in which automated sliding doors are used in Sci-Fi. If the door itself is damaged, you would have to completely remove it from its track. If access to the mechanism is meant to be sealed away from both sides, you'll also need external access to be inaccessible/secured from the immediate area on either side, which further complicates any maintenance process and overall design of the entire complex housing such doors. The Bigger the doorway and the doors, more Complicated and resource required for the entire thing. --- --- --- --- --- . .